Bob Boilen

The man Susan Stamberg called "NPR's secret weapon," whose depth of knowledge matched the perfect music to NPR's stories for 20 years, was an accomplished musician in his own right.

Watch Josienne Clarke and Ben Walker's new video, which feels both timeless and ephemeral.

We've got a lot of sounds on this week's show, from Solange's powerful meditation on being black in America, to the gentle folk of Gillian Welch. But some sounds are a lot louder than the others.

It was an offer we couldn't pass up: The veteran rapper fronting an all-star band at the White House, for the very first Tiny Desk Concert to take place outside NPR's offices.

Hear Bob Boilen talk with John Paul White, formerly of The Civil Wars, about the songs that have transformed the songwriter's life.

This week's show features songs that are fueled by emotion, namely passion and desire.

The world-famous entertainers retrofitted their custom-made instruments, confetti cannons, and streamers to fit our Tiny Desk.

They came, they measured, they built and plotted. But first, they had to borrow a few things from the office. Watch a teaser for Blue Man Group's Tiny Desk Takeover, set to feature new instruments.

On his 82nd birthday, Leonard Cohen has released a new song, the title track to his forthcoming album, You Want It Darker.

NPR Music is headed to Nashville for this week's AmericanaFest where we'll be checking out some of the newest and most promising voices in roots music, along with a few veterans.

There's real joy in this genre-defying performance by the English singer-songwriter, who performs material from her first album in six years.

In this intense performance, you can feel the singer and poet's passion in every sharp, thoughtful, powerful, provocative word.

Filmmaker Bill Morrison is known for telling stories using archival footage. Now he's teamed up with contemporary composer Kurt Wagner and his band Lambchop for the new film The Dockworker's Dream.

Hosts Bob Boilen and Robin Hilton are back after a long break with this week's essential new music, including Nick Cave's heartbreaking song "Jesus Alone" and Peter Gabriel's ode to Edward Snowden.

Director Andrew Dominik captured the Australian singer and his band, The Bad Seeds, as they finished the album Skeleton Tree, just months after Cave's 15-year-old son fell to his death.

After a long layoff, the Austin musician returns with a collection of intimate, personal songs, recorded with hometown musicians Thor Harris, Aisha Burns and others.

All Songs Considered heads to Splitsville with a look at some of the bands they've broken up with or grown apart from over the years, along with some of the artists they'll stand by no matter what.

The band's songs exude muscular warmth, with lyrics that are both memorable and meaningful. Watch Big Thief perform three songs from Masterpiece, recorded live in the NPR Music offices.

The Beatles were a great live band, but only three of their shows were ever professionally recorded. Now new technology takes those shows from The Hollywood Bowl and makes them sound better than ever.

Everything serves the songs here: There's no overplaying, no frills, just great music and a tremendous new artist who sounds thrilled to be playing it.